Entergy Louisiana, LLC, a unit of Entergy Corp., said it plans to repower a 530 MW generating unit at its Little Gypsy site in Montz, LA. The estimated $1.02 billion unit will utilize circulating fluidized bed technology developed under the Department of Energy’s Clean Coal Technology program and use petroleum coke as its primary fuel.

Entergy Louisiana has selected The Shaw Group Inc. to be its engineering, procurement, and construction services contractor for the project. The two companies are currently working under an interim agreement, and expect to sign a full agreement later this summer.

The unit, expected on line in the 2011 to 2012 time frame, will allow the company to rely less on natural gas as a fuel for its generating plants.

“Power generated with pet coke or coal is significantly cheaper than baseload power generated by natural gas, and this project will be a significant step in our efforts to reduce our reliance on natural gas,” said Renae Conley, president and CEO, Entergy Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Gulf States-Louisiana.

The plant will use a circulating fluidized bed boiler to burn pet coke to generate steam for use in Little Gypsy’s Unit 3 steam turbine generator. This process burns the fuel in a bed of limestone suspended in a column of rapidly moving air. The limestone absorbs sulfur that is released from the pet coke or coal, which is burned at a relatively low temperature to inhibit the formation of nitrogen oxides. Secondary control systems, including a polishing scrubber to eliminate sulfur oxides and a nitrogen oxide removal system, provide additional emissions control.

The power generation technology will allow Entergy to meet or exceed all state and federal environmental regulatory standards, said Conley.

In 2001, Entergy Corporation established a voluntary commitment to stabilize carbon dioxide emissions from its power plants at 2000 levels. In 2006, Entergy made a second commitment to stabilize carbon dioxide emissions from its power plants at 20 percent below 2000 levels through 2010. This commitment includes the Little Gypsy project. To date, Entergy said it has accumulated 65.3 million tons of carbon dioxide below its stated goal and has reduced carbon dioxide emissions to near 1990 levels.

Little Gypsy is located in the high electricity usage industrial corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and the site has ample space for fuel storage. Its location next to the Mississippi River provides access to the transportation of petroleum coke and coal.

The company anticipates filing its plans for the project in the near future with the Louisiana Public Service Commission, which will determine if the project is in customers’ best interest. The company said it is also working to secure all necessary permits required for construction of the new unit.